Latest Badminton News and Articles

Madrid, Sep 23 (Xinhua) Bao Chunlai beat gritty Lee Hyun Ii of South Korea 21-15, 21-19 here Saturday to make sure of an all-Chinese final in the men's singles of the World Badminton Championships. The seventh seed, who has reached the final for the first time in his career, will contend for the title with the winner of the match between his teammates, Lin Dan and Chen Hong.

The 23-year-old Chinese seemed relaxed after accomplishing the arduous task for his team.

'I am very relieved now. Before the match I was mentally tired as I had been all the time thinking about how to play. Now I have done my job and the title is ours,' he said.

Saturday's match was the repeat of last month's Korea Open semi-final where Bao trounced Lee on his way to win the eventual title.

'I was confident that I would win the match, as I beat him last month and this gave me some psychological edge,' Bao said.

When trailing 15-19 in the second game, Lee fought back to win four points in a row. But Bao regrouped himself and won the next two points to end the match.

'Bao's defence was too good and that forced me to make a lot of errors,' a despondent Lee said.